In Memory of Wayne Caldwell
It is with a profound sense of sorrow and loss that World Wide Wireless Communications announces the death of Wayne Caldwell, its Vice President and counsel. We offer our sincere condolences to his family and other friends. Wayne's sudden passing on January 16th has left those of us at the Company numb with grief. Because, although Wayne was the Company's in-house counsel and was the Company's Vice President, he was much more. He was a friend to all of us, a stable force in an often hectic and frantic environment, a trusted adviser, confidant, and friend. His loss devastates us all, leaving a void that will never be fully filled.
On a personal note, I have known Wayne for over twenty-five years. Early in my legal career, in my second job after a stint at San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation, I joined a law firm where Wayne had recently gone to work straight out of the law school. We collaborated on a number of cases and immediately it was apparent to me that Wayne not only was the consummate attorney - passionate, articulate, and thorough- but was also a person of unquestioned honesty and integrity. In cases we worked on together we were the perfect point/counterpoint. He was the detail man, the person I could always count upon to do the extra bit of research, to work the extra several hours, to cover all the possibilities, and to assure that our preparation was complete. After I left that firm, Wayne stayed on - in fact he stayed on until just a year and a half ago. We kept in contact, we met and talked about our lives and I always held out hope that some say he and I would be able to work together again.
In the fall of 1999 I invited Wayne to the open-house for the Company's new offices in San Francisco. We talked at length about the vision of World Wide Wireless Communications, its potential and its risks. I offered him the position of in-house counsel without any real expectation that he would accept it. To my great surprise and delight he did, giving up job security and taking a significant reduction in salary to participate in the efforts to build the Company and to implement its vision. From the first day on the job, Wayne did not disappoint. He was a quick learner, absorbing knowledge about the telecommunications industry in general, and the wireless Internet industry in particular with remarkable skill and speed. He quickly joined in our seven day, 80 hour work weeks without complaint. He traveled with me, or went with others, on the often grueling business trips to the other side of the globe, where the days were spent in long meetings with local partners and the nights were spent, due to the time difference, in running the business of the Company's Oakland headquarters. But even when he was overwhelmed with work, which was quite often, his work ethic never wavered.
I could talk forever about Wayne's contributions to the Company but his importance to me went far deeper than that. He was an anchor and one of my closest friends. Never reluctant to disagree when disagreement was due, he provided invaluable counsel to others and myself at World Wide. He was respected and admired by all. He performed small and discrete acts of kindness without expecting reciprocation or even thanks. He was a remarkable person, one of the best men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. To say that I will miss him, and that I already do miss him terribly, is an incredible understatement. That he is no longer physically with us will leave an ache that, with time, may subside but will never fully go away. I loved him, we all loved him, so much that we simply cannot imagine what it will be like without him in our lives. We hope that our joyful memories of the time we were fortunate enough to spend together will overshadow the sorrow we feel so close in time to his death. And we hope that his life will serve as an example to those of us he left behind.
We at World Wide Wireless Communications will carry on. We know that our personal tragedy does not relieve us of any of our responsibilities to our shareholders. We will put our grief behind us as we continue the efforts, to which Wayne was so dedicated, to continue the implementation of the Company's vision.
I will miss you my dear friend, more than you could ever have known. May you rest in peace.
Douglas P. Haffer
New Delhi, India
January 17, 2001
